Michael Hyoung Jun Kim

Michael Hyoung Jun Kim — who goes by "Hyung Kim" professionally — is a Partner at Z Venture Capital (ZVC), where he leads the firm's U.S. investing. ZVC is the venture arm of LY Corporation, the group behind the LINE messaging platform and Yahoo Japan, and was formed when LINE Ventures merged with YJ Capital in April 2021. Kim's involvement predates that merger: he leads U.S. investment activity that traces back to LINE Ventures' founding in 2017.

Kim joined LINE in 2013, where he led the strategy and business development team at LINE's U.S. office, working to expand the messaging platform in the American market before moving into the firm's venture investing. Earlier in his career he was in growth-stage private equity and venture capital as a senior associate/manager at IMM Investment, a Korean PE/VC firm focused on IT, healthcare, and clean energy. He began his career as a consultant at Bain & Company (2008–2010), working out of the firm's Seoul and Atlanta offices on growth strategy, M&A, and new-business development for global clients.

On the academic side, Kim holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (2011–2013) and a Master of Science from Northwestern University. His path — strategy consulting, Korean growth-stage PE/VC, an operating role at a major messaging platform, and then venture investing — gives him an unusually cross-border, operator-informed lens on early-stage deals.

Today he is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where ZVC opened a dedicated U.S. office in October 2025 to serve as a hub connecting startup ecosystems across Asia and the United States. The U.S. portfolio he helps steward has grown to more than 60 companies.

• Invests primarily at Seed and Series A, writing checks in the roughly $250K–$5M range with a ~$1M sweet spot.
• Backs startups with strong, defensible competitive advantages in ZVC's priority growth sectors: AI (Consumer AI, AI-DX, Physical AI), fintech, robotics, space, social/e-commerce and marketplaces, future of work, and content/IP.
• As a corporate/strategic investor tied to LY Corporation (LINE, Yahoo Japan), he brings value beyond capital — access to large Asian consumer platforms and a bridge between U.S. founders and Asian markets.
• Favors companies solving hard, real-world problems: on the k-ID investment he framed the appeal as innovative solutions that "help streamline challenges in the regulatory landscape and create a safer online environment for kids and teens."
• ZVC's recent portfolio construction (2025) skews heavily to seed — seed companies were the largest share of deals by count — and it makes meaningful follow-on investments in outperformers.